'What is it?' whispered Sykes.
'I saw something - a large vehicle, I think,' hissed Tanner. 'There must be a road up there - or a track, at least. Let's move up a bit but make sure you keep your heads down. And no bloody noise.'
The ground ahead rose and then they could see a road bisecting the wood. Along it, engines running, stood a column of German armoured cars and motorbikes.
'Christ, Sarge!' whispered Hepworth. 'What the hell are they doing?'
'I'd say they must be the reconnaissance. Advance guard.' There were four armoured cars, squat four- wheeled vehicles; two had small cannons and machine-guns fitted to the turrets, but on the other two tubing extended from the hull and stretched round the turret.
'Any ideas what those two are about, Stan?' Tanner asked.
'I reckon they must be radio cars, Sarge. Yes, that'll be it.'
'Reporting back.' Tanner stroked his chin. He counted six motorcycles, all with sidecars and a machine-gun attached to them. Two more motorcycles appeared from away to their left, without sidecars. Tanner noticed their riders had rifles slung across their backs.
'Look,' said Tanner. 'See that fallen trunk? Let's try and get to it.' It was another fifty yards or so, thick with ivy. It offered cover and, underneath it, the perfect place from which to observe the enemy.
'Don't you think we've seen enough, Sarge?' said Hepworth, eyes still wide.
Fanner winked. 'No, Hep. We can have some fun here, I reckon.'
'Fun, Sarge?' Hepworth was clearly horror-stricken.
'Think about it, Hep. Our lads are falling back and so are the Frogs. Our job is to hold up Jerry as long as possible to give the rest of the boys as much time as we can to get back to wherever we're going to make a stand. These jokers here are obviously Jerry's advance guard. If Stan's right, they'll be sending radio transmissions back to the main bulk of the German advance, reporting on what they've seen and pinpointing targets, but they can't do that if we put them out of action, can they?'
'And how do we do that?' His face had drained of colour. 'There's only three of us.'
'Yes, but we've got the element of surprise. Look at them - they're having some kind of pow-wow. The last thing they're going to expect is an attack. And we've got the Bren, plenty of rounds, three rifles and a load of grenades. I'm sure we can think of something to do with that lot.'
'And a few other bits and bobs.' Sykes grinned.
Tanner smirked. 'Like what, you sly dog?'
'A couple of tins of safety fuse, two cartons of Nobel's finest, a tin of detonators, and something else I think you might appreciate, Sarge.' He delved into his respirator bag and pulled out a small tin about four inches long.
'What are those?' asked Tanner.
'Mark One time delay switches. You add a detonator to one end and put your detonator into a pack or more of Nobel's. There's a phial you snap that releases some kind of 'orrible corrosive and when it's burned through a thin tube of copper it releases a striker and a spring, and bang - off goes your gelignite.'
'What's the delay?'
'Depends on where you set the strip of copper, fen minutes, half an hour, an hour and a half, and so on. They're new, apparently. I've only got five of them, mind. That's all you get in a tin.'
Tanner shook his head. 'Where on earth did you find this stuff?'
Sykes winked. 'Pinched it from Division sappers back in Tournai. I like having a few explosives about me, these days. Never know when they might come in handy.' He put away the tin. 'Norway taught me that much, Sarge.'
'Why didn't you tell me, Stan? We could have taken twice as much.'
Sykes looked sheepish. 'I thought you were probably in enough trouble, Sarge. No one's watching me particular, you see.'
'You're probably right.'
'I still don't know what we can do, though,' said Hepworth.
'Nor do I yet,' said Tanner. 'Let's get to that tree first. We'll think of something.'
They inched forward, the trees and some thicker foliage, with the engine noise of an armoured car, providing them with cover. At the fallen tree, they lay down on their stomachs. The enemy were about sixty yards away, still deep in conversation. Tanner brought his binoculars to his eyes. Immediately he spotted the officer in charge - different shoulder tabs, jacket, belt and breeches - standing in front of the leading armoured car, one with a gun turret. He didn't think much of the uniform. It was too stiff, too formal - impractical. Another officer's head was poking out of the radio car, headphones over his cap. The rest were other ranks - privates and NCOs - between twenty and thirty in all. He looked back in the direction from which the Germans had evidently come. He couldn't see far, but there was no sign of any others.
'We need some kind of distraction,' he whispered. 'Something to keep them busy while we get round the back and disable those armoured cars.'
'How about setting off a couple of packets of gelignite?' suggested Sykes. 'I could push round a bit, set them for ten minutes, then scarper back here. Then Hep can open up with the Bren and we'll hop in from behind with some grenades.'
Tanner nodded thoughtfully. 'Can't think of a better plan. All right. I'll try to pick off the officers when Hep opens up with the Bren.' He glanced through his binoculars again and saw that the senior officer was now peering towards the sky with his own. Others were also gazing upwards.
